1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rear quarter piece of bodywork.
2. Description of Related Art
In conventional cars, the roof of the vehicle is connected to the remainder of the bodywork via two front uprights on either side of the windshield and two rear uprights situated generally in line with rear edges of rear doors, or of front doors if the vehicle does not have any rear doors.
These two rear uprights do not always coincide with the rear corners of the vehicle, in which case there exists a solid or empty surface that is generally not structural and that is referred to as a rear xe2x80x9cquarterxe2x80x9d between each rear upright and the corresponding rear corner.
The rear quarter can be covered in a piece of opaque bodywork made of plastics material or of painted sheet metal. It can also include a window. This is referred to as a quarter window.
This portion of the vehicle is not generally used for receiving functional members such as signaling light units, for example, in particular because of the docking difficulties that would arise.
Juxtaposing a quarter window with an optical unit assumes accurate relative positioning, i.e. assembly clearances that are extremely tight together with manufacturing tolerances that are very small, which makes such configurations economically unacceptable.
In addition, the need to seal the passenger compartment and also the housing of the light unit would require the use of gaskets and mounting or assembly means that are relatively expensive.
At best, rear quarters are therefore used merely to provide an additional window increasing the field of view of the driver and of passengers, and also improving natural lighting inside the passenger compartment.
The present invention seeks to provide a solution to the above-mentioned problems for using the area occupied by a rear quarter for functional purposes.
The present invention provides a rear quarter piece of bodywork made as a single piece and comprising at least a portion of transparent or translucent material forming a quarter window, the piece being characterized in that it includes another portion contiguous with the quarter window and forming glazing for lights suitable for protecting a light source positioned on the vehicle in the vicinity of the quarter window.
In a particular embodiment of the invention, in addition to its portion forming a quarter window and its portion forming glazing for lights, the piece of bodywork also includes a third portion constituting a bodywork portion contiguous with the quarter window and having the same appearance as the remainder of the bodywork of the vehicle. In the description below, this portion is generally referred to as the xe2x80x9cbodyworkxe2x80x9d portion.
As a general rule, the bodywork portion has the same color as the remainder of the body.
In a first embodiment of the invention, the piece of bodywork is made of a single transparent or translucent material suitable for constituting the quarter window and the portion forming glazing for lights, and possibly also the bodywork portion after being subjected to treatment seeking to modify its external appearance.
Such treatment can be overmolding film, painting, or silkscreen printing.
These treatments are not mutually exclusive. In particular, silkscreen printing can be used to modify the surface state of the piece of bodywork in order to make paint adhere better.
When part of the piece is painted, the invention presents the advantage that the paint can be applied on the inside face of the piece of bodywork, with the paint thus being fully protected from outside mechanical aggression.
Similarly, the portion of the piece of bodywork that forms glazing for lights can be covered in a colored varnish or an overmolded film providing local coloring for the glazing-forming portion, and this varnish or overmolded film can be placed on the inside face of the piece of bodywork, adjacent to the passenger compartment.
It will be understood that the invention makes it easier to solve problems of ensuring that the various elements combined in the rear quarter space are properly positioned relative to one another.
In a particular embodiment of the invention, the piece is made of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA).
In a particular embodiment of the invention, trimming is associated with the piece of bodywork in order to be interposed between the vehicle and the piece of bodywork and to serve as a support for the piece of bodywork, while simultaneously constituting a light unit housing.
This trimming serves both a structural function, guaranteeing that the piece of bodywork is held and properly positioned on the vehicle, and an organic function in the sense that together with the piece of bodywork it forms a lighting or signaling unit.
In a particular embodiment of the invention, the portion of the piece of bodywork that constitutes the quarter window is itself subdivided into a fixed portion and a special portion forming an opening window, a fuel tank filler hatch, or having ventilation slots.